A man who was allegedly smuggling cows in a pickup truck was killed in a shootout in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, the Hindustan Times reported quoting the police.

The incident took place on Wednesday night when the police had intercepted a mini-truck in which cows were reportedly being smuggled, district Superintendent of Police Rahul Prakash told The Times of India. The police had set up barricades to stop the truck. However, the smugglers drove past one of the check points.

“When we asked them to stop the truck, the smugglers opened fire on us,” Prakash said. “We also resorted to trigger in which one of their accomplices was killed.” The other smugglers managed to escape, NDTV reported.

The police said there were five cows in the truck. The animals were also injured in the firing, and a veterinarian had to be called in.

Alwar has reported several incidents of cow vigilantism in the recent past. On November 10, a man was shot at by alleged cow vigilantes when they were transporting cows from Alwar to Bharatpur. The body of Ummar Khan, the victim, was mutilated and was found on the railway tracks in Ramgarh. Two suspects have been arrested in the case.